Dan Bongino unloads on James Comey for forcing FBI to waste resources on copycat ‘8647’ threats

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino lashed out at former FBI Director James Comey on Thursday for causing the agency to “waste resources” on “8647” threats against President Donald Trump because of his now-deleted Instagram post.

After Comey posted a photograph of shells depicting the numbers “8647,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on Wednesday that his post sparked an influx of copycat threats and has distracted agents from real threats to national security. Bongino told “Fox & Friends” that Comey is a “disgrace” to the country and is profiting off of his self-proclaimed victimhood.

“I’ve got to tell you, of all the things that have surprised me in the close to now three months I’ve been here is the depravity of Jim Comey,” Bongino said. “This man is a disgrace to the badge, the FBI and the country. What he’s doing right now, one, going out and taking mean shots at Kash [by saying he] doesn’t belong. Kash was the chief of staff, Kash is a patriot. Kash has served in numerous high-level roles. Taking personal shots while you’re on the beach implying a threat towards the president and you’re blaming your wife about it.”

“And let me just add about James Comey, the same Comey who walks around demoralizing to everyone about what a wonderful human being he is. What you said is absolutely accurate,” Bongino continued. “We have wasted countless man hours now running out tips to our tip line about people putting ‘8647’ because of Jim Comey, because he cannot control himself and his emotions. He is a child. He is a big child.”

WATCH:

The FBI, along with the Department of Homeland Security, launched investigations into Comey’s post under the suspicion that he called for violence against Trump. Patel told Fox News’ Bret Baier that agents have had to hold off their investigations into child sex predators, terrorists and drug traffickers in order to investigate the copycats because Comey made a “political stand” online.

“Do you know how many agents I’ve had to take offline from chasing down child sex predators, fentanyl traffickers, terrorists? Everywhere across this country, people are popping up on social media and think that a threat to the life of the president of the United States is a joke, and they can do it because he did it,” Patel said. “That’s what I’m having to deal with every single day, and that’s what I’m having to pull my agents and analysts off [of], because he thought it was funny to go out there and make a political stand.”

Comey claimed during a May 19 interview that the investigations into the post are a “distraction” created by the Trump administration and said he has no regret posting the image. After allegedly finding the shell formation on the beach, he stated that his wife encouraged him to take a photo of it as she pointed out that “86” is code to remove an item from a menu in the restaurant industry.

Trump already faced two assassination attempts on his life during the 2024 presidential campaign. His July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, came to a rapid end after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks grazed his ear with a bullet. A second would-be assassin named Ryan Routh made an attempt on Trump’s life at Trump’s Florida golf course in September.

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